Samsung SDS is in talks with Dunamu, the operator of Upbit, to build stablecoin issuance and settlement infrastructure, tokenized-securities systems, and AI-based payment tools, chief executive Lee Jun-hee said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on July 30.
Why it matters: there’s no law yet for what they’re proposing to build
Neither company can actually issue a won-pegged stablecoin today. South Korea doesn’t have one yet. The Financial Services Commission said July 29 it’s preparing to merge 10 pending crypto and stablecoin bills into a single Digital Asset Basic Act, but hasn’t set a filing date. The bill’s central unresolved question is who’s allowed to issue: the Bank of Korea wants a bank-led consortium holding at least 51% ownership, a rule the FSC and fintech groups have pushed back on. That leaves Samsung SDS and Dunamu building the infrastructure before the rules exist, rather than after.
The big picture: Korea Inc. is locking in exchange access before the law exists
Samsung isn’t alone in that calculation. Its Samsung Dunamu stake, bought jointly with Samsung Securities and Samsung Card in May for about $408 million, followed Hana Bank’s $670 million stake in the same company. Around the same stretch, Mirae Asset took control of rival exchange Korbit and rebranded it Digital X, and OKX Ventures and Korea Investment & Securities bought into Coinone. None of these deals wait for the law: all of them lock in exchange stakes or infrastructure access before licensing terms exist.
Behind the talks: what Samsung SDS says it’s bringing
Samsung SDS frames the Dunamu stake as strategic rather than financial, in Lee’s own words. What’s concrete: the two companies plan to combine Dunamu’s blockchain operating experience with Samsung SDS’s IT services, AI, cloud, and security stack, and Lee said Samsung SDS already has relevant groundwork from a tokenized-securities platform built with the Korea Securities Depository and end-to-end testing of stablecoin issuance-to-settlement. Samsung SDS didn’t respond to a request for comment on further detail; Dunamu declined to comment.
Samsung SDS’s Q2 2026 earnings presentation highlights its May investment in Dunamu as part of a “full-scale digital asset business collaboration.”
By the numbers: Samsung SDS’s Q2
Per the company’s own second-quarter earnings release, revenue reached 3.72 trillion won (about $2.68 billion), up 5.9% from a year earlier. Operating profit rose 0.7% to 232 billion won, and cloud revenue (the segment most relevant to any Dunamu buildout) climbed 17% to 779 billion won.
What’s next: the same bank-versus-fintech fight that’s already stalled Korea’s stablecoin bill twice
Until Korea decides who’s allowed to issue a won stablecoin, Samsung SDS and Dunamu are building toward a product with no confirmed legal path to market, following investments such as the Hana Bank Dunamu stake. The FSC wants its unified bill finished sometime in 2026. The same bank-versus-fintech dispute that has already stalled the legislation twice is still what stands in the way.
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